Mark Jefferson (1863–1949) was the chief cartographer of the American Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. He was also the head of the geography department at Michigan State Normal College (MSNC), now

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

(EMU), from 1901-1939. Jefferson received his bachelor's degree from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

and his master's degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. From 1883-1889 he worked at an astronomical observatory in Argentina. From 1890-1901 he was a high school teacher in Massachusetts. In addition to teaching at MSNC he also taught at the Harvard Summer School. Among Jefferson's students were geographers

Isaiah Bowman Isaiah Bowman, AB, Ph. D. (December 26, 1878, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada – January 6, 1950, Baltimore, Maryland), was an American geographer and President of the Johns Hopkins University, 1935–1948, controversial for his antisemitism and ...

and Charles C. Colby. In 1916 Jefferson served as president of the American Association of Geographers. A biography of Jefferson entitled ''Mark Jefferson: Geographer'' written by Geoffrey J. Martin was published by Eastern Michigan University Press in 1968. EMU has a building named after Mark Jefferson.

Sources

CSISS article based on Jefferson's work
*''Aurora'' (MSNC yearbook) 1918.
''Annals of the American Association of Geographers'' Vol. 39, no. 4
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson, Mark 1863 births Boston University alumni Harvard University alumni Eastern Michigan University faculty Harvard Summer School instructors American geographers 1949 deaths Presidents of the American Association of Geographers